A bill that would have prevented transgender South Dakotans from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates failed Friday on a unanimous vote in a Senate committee.
The bill failed first in a House committee, then was smoked out on the House floor by Rep. Fred Deutsch, who argued House Bill 1076 would clarify the issue for judges and courts.
Transgender people and their allies argued that the bill would harm them and lead to further discrimination, harassment and violence.
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A lobbyist for the Human Rights Campaign argued that the bill is “deeply harmful, discriminatory and unconstitutional” and “attacks the dignity and safety of transgender people.” The lobbyist said people should be able to correct the gender marker on their birth certificates to protect themselves from violence and discrimination.
One-third of people who have documents that are “incongruent” with their gender identity were harassed, assaulted or faced discrimination in housing and employment, the lobbyist said.
If the bill passed, it would become costly to taxpayers in South Dakota because the ACLU planned to challenge it in court, lobbyist Jett Jonelis said. In a statement from the ACLU, Jonelis said Senate lawmakers upheld the Constitution by killing the bill.
Four transgender South Dakotans spoke out against the bill, including Elliott, a 17-year-old trans man from Hartford, who said the bill was “blatantly transphobic” and that they face enough discrimination in everyday life, and “I have to convince my own state government not to take more from me.”
Toni Diamond, a Rapid City woman, said she had to have a doctor confirm her transition before she could get the appropriate amendment on her birth certificate by going to court and having a judge affirm her decision. The decision to change the birth certificate should be left up to counselors and doctors, she said.
Anna Amundson, who was also able to amend her birth certificate in 2001, said trans people need the ability to update their legal documentation “in order to function in this society.”
Scott Dover, a National Guard veteran, said the bill is discriminatory and fueled by misinformation. He said he tried to cash a check at a bank and the gender marker on his driver’s license didn’t match his identity or appearance in front of the clerk, he said, which made him launch into a lengthy explanation while a line formed behind him. Dover also said he fears international travel for this reason.
South Dakota issued 12,000 birth certificates in 2016, with four requests in the last two years for “this kind of change,” David Owen said on behalf of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce. Owen said the figure expressed as a percentage is 0.00016%, so the bill does not stand scrutiny.
Susan Williams from the South Dakota Transformation Project said she conducted her own analysis of sex designation changes on birth certificates as announced in South Dakota newspapers over the last few years, which showed 15 cases.
“This bill is attempting to solve a problem that does not exist,” Williams said, adding that legislators could have spent time and energy on other more important topics or issues facing the state this year instead of what she called “anti-transgender” bills.
David Zimbeck, a Sioux Falls lawyer, argued the bill affects too few people to be an issue and was created “under the guise of contrived government interest in maintaining accurate records.” Zimbeck said the Equal Protection Clause and Civil Rights Act of 1964 would make this bill unconstitutional.
Proponents of the bill argued that gender and sex cannot change and that laws and documents like birth certificates should be based on “objective truth,” Rep. Bethany Soye said. Names and birth places can be determined, but gender and sex can only be recognized, said Norman Woods of the Family Heritage Alliance.
The Catholic faith believes everyone is worthy of compassion, love and respect, but they believe sex is unchanging and observed at birth, said Chris Motz, director of the state’s Catholic conference. Motz also said he wants state records to be accurate.
